Heiress of Haddon

on me an

*

least frequ

there aro

ed in every

ay I heard

the city, la

lf-clad, ran

e forth, and s

d challenge

TO

d far and wide, and had caused a feeling of consternation in the neighb

for Ashby Castle, declaring that in spite of the good intentions of Sir Benedict his case was not understo

steps he had better take next. There was absolutely no clue, yet the baron was determined not only to discover the culprit, but to make suc

ight of stairs, and stopped at the door of the room in which Dorothy was busily engaged in

t head of them all," and suiting the action to t

as she gazing through the open lattice window t

ily admired the graceful figure of his daughter, and stepp

he caught her deftly in his arms and printed a

rrant me thou wert longing

sdained an

I had bought these from him only the day before," and she

plied the baron as he sat himself comfortably do

en, "I should think so, too. M

y two we

o?" aske

e made off with the rest. That ill-favoured locksmith w

be, he was all d

mined that the locksmith was the guilty one, but now that his id

n silence; she was as

ifting up his head after a long pause, during which he had ke

Dame Durden'

the w

es

and heavily upon the table. "I have it!" and witho

atever it was that he had got, he did not feel equal to proceeding in the

ain, "we will go together," and the two went of

was listening to Sir John de Lacey, who was reading to her out of Roger Ascham's treatise on Archery. As the kn

ight," he exclai

ts, mine host," he replied, "f

gly returned the baron. "There's no qu

e river," whined De Lacey, "and the pity of it is I c

uld have taken, but ere he had resolved, the door opened, and Si

as, thou hadst best have the grace of forgiveness, it will become thee well. But a

edlar the day before his death," answered Stanley, "and sh

d Margaret, who felt bound to add

"I have it now. I guessed it w

d Dorothy, "you suspec

if I did. 'Tis the old witch, sure enough, and

m not yet satisfied that it really was the witch, for she seems to hav

ded Lady Vernon, referring to

led in the wood

the matter," pursued Sir Georg

t of inquiry," suggested the more cautious Stanley; "for thou hast many jealous enemies

, for instance,"

ed De Lacey. "He is a sim

lied Sir George Vernon; "he is jea

nd for his child,"

baron. "He may turn green with envy for aug

far as to order a trial of touch-a superstitious form of trial muc

the time appointed a large crowd was gathered in the great courtyard of Haddon

eventide; no tricks were attempted now upon unconscious friends, and even the almost invariable little groups of admirers listening to the marvellously strange tales of those who had crossed the seas were not to be found. All

e moon had long been out before the

on either side and made an open passage for him. A few yards behind followed a bare-headed priest, chanting prayers for the departed, and heading a diminutive procession, in the midst of which the body of the unfortunate pedlar was

at was, should be duly impressed with a sense befitting the character of the moment, and a little suspense, he s

st he

, step out," he said, "take the oath; touch the body in

ed to see the individuals named perform the test. No o

ne," thundered the baron, "I command you to answer to

district, went forward in company, and succeeded in touching the body witho

" repeated Sir George, "answer to this third, la

sence of Mary Durden, who was unwillingly pushed into view by those around her. As soon as she

witch is guilty, she d

ed another. "Drown

y again, leaving it more weird even than it had been before. A faint roll of thunder broke upon the unpleasant reverie into which the company had fallen, and Sir George's voice ordering the oil lamps to be lighted, somewhat reassur

seeing that Nathan had been fast bound in the stocks at the time the crime was perpetrated. His name had only been called out

that the witch?"

t

ng to her master t

was moaning. The crowd was stricken with terror, and catching up the words which Sir Joh

George, as a vivid flash of lightnin

s the only answer he received, and while the noise was at its loudest

the uneven pavement of the yard, she over-balanced herself, and tumb

uted Sir George; "she

ght, the awe-struck people, one and all, shrunk eagerly back to escape being brought into contact with one who had just give